Interesting read that I'm sure will get tweaked a couple more times before October.

Notables from Andy Katz7. State11. Carolina15. Duke

I think Michigan, Arizona, Ohio State, and Duke are a little high.

Good job for state, though. The ACC is better when they are relevant. Still no word on CJ Leslie and I honestly could go either way with him. Leslie not making an announcement at the team banquet last week should concern state fans. State has one of their best classes ever coming in, and if they want to remain relevant, their going to have to prepare for some of those guys leaving after one season and stay in the top of ACC recruiting.

The UCLA #13 ranking is interesting as well. This is a team that basically was in the news for all the wrong reasons two months ago w/ claims that the Howland had ZERO control over the team. Still, they landed #1 recruit Shabazz Muhammad.

Like I stated in the NBA thread, this draft is loaded and one of the best we've seen in a while. So there will be lots of freshmen playing and making an impact. I think this next season could be wide open and I would be surprised to hear everyone's NC pick.

Carolina is overrated with all they're losing. I also think its premature to put NC State that high.

I think Creighton is underrated on that list. They only lose one player and return one of the nation's leading scorers.

I also think he should have had UMass and Temple on the "Don't Sleep On" list.

For some people, Carolina will always be over rated.

I agree with Crieghton's ranking, but they are getting an early benefit from a wide open field right now.McDermott and boys have fun beating up JV teams all year, but when they get up against the big boys it's a different story. We saw that when they played a 75% UNC team.

It's early though, a lot of things can happen from now and then.

Tensor, aren't you a big UNCC fan? How do you like their chances at making the NIT this upcoming season? I'm an alum BTW.

NIT is possible. It's really a shame how far the program is fallen. The A10 is a very good league, but the adjustment has not gone well.

Our best player, Chris Braswell, is poised to be a preseason first team A10 selection. I expect 15-17ppg and 7-8 rpg out of him.

We also have a solid young PG in Pierra Henry (was like 5th in the nation in steals last year). Our starting SF/backup PG, DeMario Mayfield is also very talented, averaging something like 15ppg in A10 games.

After those three, there was a significant drop off in talent. A lot of new guys coming in including a local top player in the RIvals 150, Shawn Lester. 6'8 PF recruit Willie Clayton just finished up an international tournament in france on the USA U22 team. He was one of 3 guys not ranked in the Rivals top 100 and he was the team MVP. He was in the ESPN top 100 until he committed to Charlotte.

If those two new guys make a significant impact, I think NIT is definitely a possibility and I'd be happy with that; it would at least show some progress. If they don't, we very well may be awful again next year.

A lot also depends on how well our freshmen from last year progress. They had little problem getting to the basket last year, but they were just awful at finishing. Even when they were fouled they only shot 55-60% from the FT line. Hopefully a year of strength and conditioning will help them finish against college level athletes.

This is the most athletic team Charlotte has had in a very long time, but they are all very unpolished.

I'd say Charlotte has about a 60% chance of going back to CUSA, so the quality of basketball they'll be playing in conference will decrease significantly.

I'm glad to see Judy Rose and the administration are starting to realize how boneheaded a move it was to go to the A10. I think they had some dellusional idea that a school like Charlotte in a big city would be able to recruit and dominate over these smaller schools. Reality check, Judy Rose. She has to be one of the worst ADs in the country. Sure, the soccer/baseball teams are excellent, but don't kid yourself UNCC, football and basketball are what pay the bills.

This is a big year for Alan Major and honestly I think it will be his last. Not a good sign when players are transfering.

You're right about how sad the program has become. Football should help.

I'm glad to see Judy Rose and the administration are starting to realize how boneheaded a move it was to go to the A10. I think they had some dellusional idea that a school like Charlotte in a big city would be able to recruit and dominate over these smaller schools. Reality check, Judy Rose. She has to be one of the worst ADs in the country. Sure, the soccer/baseball teams are excellent, but don't kid yourself UNCC, football and basketball are what pay the bills.

This is a big year for Alan Major and honestly I think it will be his last. Not a good sign when players are transfering.

You're right about how sad the program has become. Football should help.

All schools have transfers.

Both players that transferred were Lutz guys and neither was very good anyway.

The A10 wasn't really chosen, it was forced. CUSA did not want to be a hybrid league anymore.

There were no other options if we wanted to remain in a conference with quality basketball opponents. Going to the CAA or the SoCon would have been a HUGE step backwards.

The A10 has gotten 3+ teams in like 80+ % of the time the last 20 years. The CAA has gotten 3 teams in twice in its history I believe. The SoCon has never gotten more than 1 bid.

Charlotte had good reason to believe they'd dominate the A10. Charlotte had gone to the NCAA tournament 8 of 10 years between 95 and 2005 (more than any other team in the country) and had the second highest winning percentage in a conference that at the time was stronger than the A10.

They are losing their best player/only scorer and return a team that was probably 3-4 best in the ACC and lost in one of the biggest upsets in NCAA history. Oh yeah, not to mention the 6th best recruiting class in the ACC this year.

Another one of those live by the 3/die by the 3 teams next year.

Sure, Coach K is an excellent coach. But he can't go out there and make all the shots and grab all the rebounds, too!

I'm just going to say that Duke will win more games than any team in the ACC next season. Losing Kelly at the End of last season was a huge blow. Hopefully the team will say healthy this go around. Lord knows we've had our share of bad luck.

I really enjoy how there are just a lot of UNC fans that you can not have a rational conversation with. Carolina is losing 55 Points, 27 Rebounds, 13 Assists, 5 Blocks, and 2 Steals per game, I am interested in how you think that UNC is going to replace that. And please don't make me laugh at you when you say that your group of 4 star recruits are going to slot into each position seamlessly.

And you keep mentioning the recruiting class, sure we only have on TRUE recruit in Sheed, but in actuality we are getting at least 3 players(assuming we don't get Jefferson or Parker, but I think we will end up with Jefferson) seeing as Alex Murphy and MP3 were both red shirted last year. Alex Murphy was going to be a top 20 recruit in this years class had he not reclassified. Now he will probably be better off because instead of coming into the team fresh, he has had a year to work out, build strength, learn and work with everyone on the team. I don't by any stretch think Duke will be a powerhouse next year, but all reality, they are much more likely to make the tourney than UNC(I think both will make hit though.) You keep talking about Duke not having scorers, when we have half a dozen guys that can go for 25 on any given night. You need to worry about your own scoring, I am curious where UNC are gonna get points from. Not like anyone on the current roster has really lit it up in their time at UNC.

Note: You also keep referencing the game against Lehigh. Do you actually know anything about Coach K's offense? It is pretty much a pick and pop offense, that heavily requires a 4 or 5 being about to knock down a 3 or a long jumper. Happen to notice how we got no penetration when Kelly was out, its bc the screen man could hedge way out on the ball handler, and not have to worry about Mason, Miles, or Josh Hairston drilling a 3. The last time Duke didn't have a big man that couldn't hit 20+ footers was Shelden Williams(04-05). If you actually watched any of the games without Kelly, even someone who knows next to nothing about basketball could see how stagnant Duke's offense was.